25 April 2016

Mystery Towers of Southwick

The local populace dubbed these two peculiar structures
Mystery Towers because nobody had any idea about why they were being built.
They were constructed during the closing stages of the Great War and even in
1920 their purpose was still an official secret although the war had been over
for two years by then. Meanwhile people were fascinated by them and speculated
about their use. It seems local photographers were not shoed away from this secret
work and many postcards were produced, capturing them from every possible
angle.

In those days there was a tidal waterway that ran from
Shoreham Harbour to the west end of the Power Station and was parallel to the
canal on the south side; it went by the unromantic name of The Gut. It seems
that during the Great War the Admiralty took over The Gut and that is where the
peculiar monsters were built.

A single-track railway was laid
to the site in order that materials for construction could be easily
transported. This track left the main line on the embankment near Southwick
Railway Station. When the end of the short line was reached, a novel operation
got under way – in some ways reminiscent to a toy railway track. The rear part
of the track was lifted up and taken to the front and then laid down and so the
train proceeded at a snail’s pace.

The line also had the
disadvantage of having to go over the lock gates, which was fine when there was
no movement of vessels. But when a collier or other ship needed to sail further
into the canal, cranes had to lift the track away.

Sir Alexander Gibb (1872-1952)
was the man responsible for the design of the towers and he was the Navy’s
Civil Engineer-in-Chief. Scottish-born Gibb came from a line of engineers and
he was articled to famous engineers John-Wolfe Barry and Henry Marc Brunel.
Gibb had wide experience because he had been involved with railways as well as
being appointed in 1916 as Chief Engineer of Ports Construction to the British
Army in France; the post also came with the rank of Brigadier General. In 1919
he went to work for the new Ministry of Transport and was its first Director
General. In 1921 he left Government service because he decided to set up his
own business as a consulting engineer. He founded Alexander Gibb & Partners
in 1922, which became the foremost British engineering firm whose expertise was
utilised world-wide.

Captain D.J. Morgan RN was put in
charge of the group of Royal Engineers who worked on the Mystery Towers. While
the work was in progress these man camped out at Southwick Green.

The purpose of the Mystery Towers was to act as a
sophisticated defence against the menace of the dreaded German U-boats. The
idea was that from eight to twelve steel and concrete towers would be sunk in a
55-metre depth of water across the English Channel via the Varne Shoal and
there would be chains and steel nets slung between them. The towers would guard
the strategic stretch of water from Folkestone to Cap Gris Nez.

The official title of the scheme was the Admiralty M-N
Scheme or Project M-N.

The weight of each tower was
around 10,000 tons; the base measured some 60 metres across and was 25 metres
in height and this concrete raft was constructed of interlocking cells. Above
the base rose a column composed of 1,000 tons of steel measuring 27.5 metres in
height with a width of 12 metres.

A gangway led to the top of the
tiers and the base of the tower-shaped structure was divided into a number of
floors. On the second lowest floor there was an electrical plant for lighting
and heating purposes. The men’s quarters were located on the next floor and the
officers’ berths on the floor above; there were still two more decks more.
These decks were to provide enough accommodation for 60 to 100 men.

At the top of the structure there
was a crow’s nest or conning tower with the control room underneath.

By adjusting the sluices of the
structure, which had a flat bottom, the tower could be submerged or raised.

The towers were to be armed with
two standard 4-inch guns and searchlights. But the towers were also to
accommodate the latest technology including a hydrophone and a galvanometer to
detect the presence of submarines.

The scheme was an incredibly
expensive project and it is said to have cost £12 million, which was a
considerable sum in those days.

The project did not start until
1917 and it was not until November 1918 that two towers were at last completed;
this was despite the work being on-going both day and night. Work was still in
progress on two further towers when the war ended.

Afterwards

On 23 May 1920 members of Southwick Urban District Council
were invited to visit the Mystery Towers. Captain Clift had invited them but he
would not or could not enlighten them as to the purpose of the structures.
However, the councillors did gather that one theory being bandied about was
untrue; this was that the towers would be used to raise sunken ships.

The view from the top deck was
astonishing ‘the country is laid in a charming bird’s eye view like a lovely
piece of tapestry’. Even the nearby lighthouse resembled a small toy.

But it was not just officials who
could enjoy the view, ordinary members of the public were allowed to visit as
well and the fee charged was sixpence or one shilling. One young lady who took
advantage of the offer was Marie Masters (née Mitchell) and she had every right
to be interested because her father was one of the civilian workers at the
site. Marie’s family lived at 15 St Nicholas Road, Portslade. They rowed across
the canal and Marie sturdily climbed her way up to the top despite being seven
months pregnant. However, when she arrived at the top and saw how high up they
were, she lost her nerve. She was quite unable to get back down all the stairs
under her own steam and had to be carried down.

Another civilian from Portslade who worked
on the Mystery Towers was Albert Bowles (1900-1978) from Shelldale Road. He was
born just over the Downs in Poynings. Albert joined the Royal Sussex Regiment at the age of 16 but was discharged when it was discovered he was underage for military service. What his work involved at Southwick was also a mystery to his
family too because he would never speak about it; people in those days were
very conscientious about keeping silent where confidential matters were
concerned. Albert moved to Shoreham during the Second World War and he died
there in 1978.

On 12 September 1920 one of the
towers was towed away. The operation took place on a Sunday and it had to
coincide with the highest tide of the year otherwise the task would have been
impossible. Marie’s father, Mr Mitchell, went with the tower and he always
maintained that it was such a tight squeeze there was only a leeway of around
18 inches on either side.

Eight tugs were employed in the
tremendous task of shifting the tower and they continued towing it for a
distance of 53 kilometres until the Nab Rock was reached off Bembridge, Isle of
Wight. The tower was to replace the Nab Rock Lightship and it became the basis
of the Nab Lighthouse; Mr Mitchell was on hand to help fill the base with concrete.

Second Tower

In 1922 the second tower was demolished where it stood and
Mr Mackley was one of the men engaged on this work. After completion he founded
the firm of J.T. Mackley, supervising engineers and contractors based at Small
Dole.

The reinforced concrete
partitions, which formed the cellular construction, were cut into convenient
slabs measuring some 3 feet by 2 feet and sold off for paving; many of them
were utilised in local garden paths and terraces, while some formed the
foundations of glasshouses at Worthing.

When the old Power Station was
being demolished in 1990/1991 workmen digging out the foundations came across
the concrete base of one of the towers.

Cutting-edge

It is important to remember that the Mystery Towers were
in fact at the cutting-edge of new technology in their day. It has been claimed
that they paved the way for the construction of modern sea oil-rig platforms.

It is also worth noting that Guy Mansell was among the
Royal Engineers working at the site. During the Second World War he designed
the Mansell Sea Forts.